BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
WESLACO — The Weslaco High girls 800-meter relay team had another eye-catching performance Saturday night.
After winning the race at the 2019 Meet of Champions two weeks ago, the Panthers’ combination of Jenna Martinez, Lisamarie Sanchez, Emma Arndt and Alexa Davila were almost a full three seconds faster than second-place Edinburg Economedes. Weslaco High’s official time was 1 minute, 45.33 seconds; Economedes checked in at 1:48.32.
“The girls were on today,” Weslaco High girls coach Pablo Almaguer said. “It’s our district meet so we’re trying to run our fastest times to get ready for the regional meet and, hopefully ,the state meet. It was really windy out there, but we told the girls, ‘Don’t let the wind affect you. Run your race.’ We have a junior, a sophomore, a senior and an anchor freshman. For them to break a record we set back in 2015, that was pretty special.”
“I think we do have an advantage because this (Bobby Lackey Stadium) is our home,” Lisamarie Sanchez said. “Our handoffs had been a little shaky lately, but we do practice a lot as a team. We encourage each other and push each other. After every handoff, we’re always encouraging our teammates to keep going.”
Sanchez is the senior leg of the Panthers’ fearsome quartet.
“I’m really honored to be teammates with them,” Sanchez said. “You get to see your teammates, who are young, as the oldest. It’s sad that I’ll have to leave them eventually, but I know they’re in good hands with coach A(lmaguer). I can’t wait until I come back and see the freshmen become seniors, so I can see how much they’ve grown.”
MORE HURDLES TO CLEAR
Edinburg North senior hurdler Roel De Leon posted a personal record in the 110-meter hurdles on Saturday, but he knows he is a work in progress.
“I’ve got to work on how I start,” De Leon said. “I’ve got to be better out of the blocks. It’s a matter of mechanics and speed. I’ve got to work on my steps because I start running up to the hurdle. Once I feel a little close, I usually go a little bit higher over the first hurdle. I used to be the first one out of the blocks, but it’s about getting in rhythm. One of my strengths is in between hurdles where I speed up. I gain speed as I go. I can’t focus on anyone else running beside me. I’ve just got to run my race.”
De Leon’s 15.40 seconds was enough to edge Edinburg Vela’s Victor Segovia (15.68) for first place.
“I still see room for improvement,” Edinburg North hurdles coach Jake Hrbacek said. “He started off kind of slow, but luckily, he picked it up. He’s done that all year. I keep telling him that if we get the first part of the race down, then he could be running in the mid-14’s. He has the body frame and the ability for it. He’s just got to put together a full race.”
CLEAN SWEEP
Edinburg Vela junior Jeremy Nino had one of the best two-day stretches of any athlete at this week’s district meet in Weslaco.
Nino squared off with a field in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200-meter races, which included Weslaco High senior Tony Sanchez.
Nino and Sanchez were neck-and-neck for the 2-mile race on Thursday. Ultimately, Nino (9:34.31) was 0.43 seconds faster than Sanchez (9:34.74).
On Saturday, Nino took home gold in the 800 (1:57.41) and mile races (4:26.19). All three of Nino’s first-place finishes were personal bests.
“Tony’s a good competitor and everyone here is a good competitor,” Nino said. “I feel like I have to prove to people what I can do because the rest of the runners have already proved themselves. I know how to run the 800 and 16(00), but I haven’t run the 32(00) all year. Thursday was my first one. The intensity changes with the crowd and everyone cheering for you.”
“He’s a very resilient young man,” Edinburg Vela boys coach Hernan Figueroa said. “When it came down to the kick, I knew both kids would be very strong finishers. They’ve gone back and forth before. Jeremy’s won some and Tony’s won some. It was a great battle. They’re both great kids.”
Nino will return to Weslaco for the area meet in two weeks.